[See page image]
Page 480
Social Service THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG 480
as treasurers or deacons authorized by the congregations or civil governments; and they were governed by strict regulations. Excellent as the system was in theory, it did not succeed in practise. The income from endowments was not what had at first been anticipated; and, after the first enthusiasm had subsided, the collections declined. But, even more important, the overseers were inexperienced and incompetent. In the Reformed congregations of Germany, France, and particularly Holland, the aim toward a considerate, personal, and individual treatment of the poor was successfully worked out to the smallest details. In the Roman Catholic countries and districts voluntary poor-relief has continued through the various orders and establishments, though not by parish relief; and a work has been done to which Protestantism offers no parallel.
Fundamental are three great types of poor-relief, of which all others are modifications: namely, the
English, French, and Dutch. Foreg. Three most is the English. The law of Eliza-
Modern beth of 1601 has remained to this day Types. as the basis of poor-relief. In every parish from two to four citizens in good standing were appointed overseers of the poor, and to them was confided the duty of providing work for all who were without means of support and had no settled employment. They had the right of taxing the members of the parish for means of sup plying material for the employment of those ca pable of work, and for supporting those who were incapable. The emphasis upon setting to work the able-bodied led to the rise of workhouses (at first called ° the industrial house "), the first of which was opened in 1679. In 1713 an act authorized such workhouses, and any pauper who refused as sistance at one was denied it elsewhere. There then arose a distinction between assistance given in an institution (indoor relief) and that given outside (outdoor relief). By the Gilbert act of 1782 and the act of 1796, outdoor relief was legalized and be came the rule. The " allowance " system was started, by which the difference between actual earnings and a minimum scale based on market prices and the size of the family was paid by the State. Pauperism vastly increased. In 1834 re forms were introduced. Outdoor relief was limited. Poor-associations, called unions, were formed, each with a board of guardians, composed of the justices of the peace and selected members of the parish, to distribute relief. A central board of com missioners, the poor-law board, was established, which from 1872 has been subordinated to the local government board. This system is now entirely a matter of civil administration; its aim is, by in door strictness and hard labor, to diminish the numbers of outdoor paupers. It is lacking in the element of training and promotion, rpot providing suitably for the sick, the weak, or the unfortunate by accident. The civil poor-relief confines itself only to the immediate necessities and leaves the rest to benevolent initiative, and nowhere else have societies and institutions of free beneficence mul tiplied as in England. In France the constitution of July 4, 1793, pro-claimed that public poor-relief was a sacred obligation. It was proposed by a decree of July 7, 1794, to acquire the hospitals and other private institutions. Workshops were to be opened for those who could work, and a yearly pension given to those who could not. Of this scheme the only part put into execution was that connected with the destruction of the old system. After the Revolution benevolent institutions so far as possible were restored to the Church, and Napoleon I. reestablished the orders of relief and granted every sort of State recognition and support. The old orders and congregations increased and new ones were gradually added; and relief rests mainly upon the voluntary aid of these. By a decree of Nov. 27, 1796, local boards (bureaux de bienfaisance) were established in the ecclesiastical communes, to render house-relief; but these are not in conflict with the matitutions. These boards were not, however, made compulsory, and in 1897 existed in less than one-half of the communes. They have no power to levy assessments. The State has, however, taken over the care of the young and the insane and assigned them to the poor regulations of the departments.
The Thirty-Years' War almost put an end to poor-relief in Germany. After the war numerous regulations were adopted, but rather to prevent begging than to aid the poor. Toward the end of the seventeenth century workhouses and houses of correction were established. The Pietist movement, by its free impulse toward charity, and the Enlightenment (q.v.), by its humanism, contributed toward the progress of poor-relief. For the first time a comprehensive literature on poor-relief sprang up and from 1870 there has been an earnest effort for reform. A general institution for poorrelief was established at Hamburg, and widely copied. The basis for the care of the poor was really laid, however, by the general law of June 6, 1870, on the principle adopted in Prussia Dec. 31, 1842, and gradually extended to include all of the empire excepting Bavaria and Aleace-Lorraine. According to this the former homerelief was replaced by that of dependent residence, qualification for which was established by two-years' standing in the parish or lost by a two-years' absence. Whoever has no dependent residence is called " land poor." Whenever any one within this privilege happens to be in want the local charity must take cognizance of the same. The work is in general in charge of poor-associations, and its character and scope are determined by the laws of the different states, to which imperial legislation has entrusted all details. The Elberfeld system has been extensively and successfully introduced. The essential characteristic of this is the principle that to the individual overseer only a very small number of dependents (not more than four) are assigned with the largest freedom of adaptation, limited only by general directions. The theoretical result of the evolution of poor-relief is summed up in the phrase, promotion of self-support; and the practical result was voiced in the expression of the charity congress of 1857 at Frankfort-the organic cooperation of the civic authorities, the church offices, and voluntary associations. The Church